Pages 27-63

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☽ April 1st, YTMP - Professional Conversationalist

Page 27

caries
tooth decay, leading to a cavity (always used in plural form)

Page 28

"...a regular verb, transitive..."
In English, regular verbs end in -ed (or -d, for infinitives that end in -e) in the past simple or the past participle. An irregular verb does not follow this rule. For example, "implore," a regular verb, is "implored" in the past simple tense. "Fall," an irregular verb, becomes "fell" in the past simple tense.

A transitive verb is able to take a direct object. For example, "I implore you." Intransitive verbs generally necessitate a preposition: "I look at you."

supplication
The act of asking earnestly; begging; making an entreaty.

OED
The abbreviation for "Oxford English Dictionary."

Page 29

Webster's 7th
Webster's Dictionary, 7th edition.

moniker
nickname

apprised
informed

consummate
Highly skilled; perfect.

Byzantine erotica
The Byzantine Empire was the continuation of the Roman Empire in the Middle Ages. A cursory google search for "Byzantine Erotica" reveals not very much at all. The topic is either as esoteric as it seems or a DFW invention.

fly-by-night
Untrustworthy.

pejorative
derogatory, disparaging (Hal indicating that the phrase "my reputation preceded me" is generally used in a pejorative sense)

Alexandrian
Referring to the reign of the Byzantine emperor Alexander who ruled from 879-913 c.e.

Constantinian
Presumably referring to the reign of Constantine "the Great", Byzantine emperor from 306–337 c.e.

"...intra-provincial crisis..."
A crisis occurring within a province.

racy mosaics
Referring to aforementioned Byzantine Erotica. Mosaics are detailed pictures created with very small pieces of stone.

medical attaches
Here, a medical attache is a specialist who assists a wealthy or powerful person's personal physician.

"...stereochemically not dissimilar..."
similar, based on the spatial arrangement of atoms

hypodermic
injected

Jivaro
Jivaro Indians are native to eastern Ecuador and Peru. They are associated with shrunken heads.

South-Central L.A.
An area of Los Angeles known for extreme crime and violence.

Basin
A natural depression in the earth. Used often in geological and anthropological contexts.

Ralston
breakfast cereal

Page 31

priapistic-entertainment cartridge
priapistic: Persistent, usually painful erection of the penis, especially as a consequence of disease and not related to sexual arousal.

fifth wall
The "fourth wall" is a term used in theater to describe the imaginary wall that separates the stage from the audience. The "fifth wall" could be an extrapolation of this concept, meaning a wall separating an actor from a critic or separating two people sharing the same experience.

oral-lyrologist
likely refers to someone who plays a jew's-harp as evidenced by references to theory of oral lyres on page 30, and as it is a musical instrument similar to a lyre, but played orally.

anaplastic

Adjective meaning either relating to the surgical restoration of a lost or absent part or
relating to or characterized by cells that have become less differentiated/primitive.

phalluctomy

Neologism probably referring to the removal of the penis

Mondragonoid

Avril Incandenza's maiden name is revealed to be Mondragon. Also refers to Mondragón, the Spanish name for the Basque town of Arrasate, best known as the home of the Mondragón Cooperative Corporation the world's largest worker cooperative. Note the similarity of the Basque Country and Quebec as presented in IJ.

☽ May 9th, YDAU - Orin calls Hal

Page 32

locutions
Sayings; phrases.

"I want to tell you...My head is filled with things to say."
These are the first lines of the Beatles song "I Want to Tell You," written by George Harrison (1943-2001).

"I don't mind...I could wait forever."
more lyrics from "I Want to Tell You," though not the very next ones

Brandt
Another German name, most famously the nom de guerre of the future mayor of West Berlin and Kanzler of Germany, Willy Brandt, born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm (1913-1922).

In the 1990 essay "E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction", DFW uses Toblerone to point out that treats are acceptable in small amounts but harmful if consumed in large amounts. "One can only guess at what volume of gin or poundage of Toblerone six hours of Special Treat a day would convert to." (" E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction." A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again. (1997): 37.)

maxillofacial
pertaining to or affecting the jaws and face

Candida albicans
the Latin name for a fungus that causes, among other disorders, thrush

intestinal flora
Referring to Candida albacans, one of the microorganisms that lives in the human mouth and intestines.

monilial sinusitis
Inflammation of the nasal sinus caused by fungus of the genus Monila.

thrush
A fungal infection caused by (here) Candida albicans. Sort of a yeast infection of the mouth.

Page 39

☽ YDAU - Mario and Hal talk before sleep

Page 39

Page 40

Page 41

Tosca
The title of an opera by Italian composer Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (1858-1924), which premiered in 1900.

Page 42

agoraphobic
suffering from an irrational fear of going outside

portcullis
This is "a strong grating, as of iron, made to slide along vertical grooves at the sides of a gateway of a fortified place and let down to prevent passage" (Random House Unabridged Dictionary).

Page 42

2010h. on 1 April
The medical attaché has been watching for forty-three minutes.

Page 42

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! cont.

October, YDAU - Orin in Phoenix, AZ

Page 43

Ambush: To attack from a concealed position. Orin's fear of commitment, fear that the "subject" is trying to entrap him i.e marriage.

Home with the team
It's already been mentioned that Orin plays professional football. He must play for the Arizona Cardinals.

Page 44

Blattaria implacblusBlattaria is the order that contains the several genus and species of cockroaches. The Latin phrase really means "implacable cockroach."

Page 45

fantods
A state of fidgetiness, uneasiness, or unreasonableness; nervous depression or apprehension; "the fidgets;" "the creeps;" "the willies." See online dictionary here

Chalmette
an eastern suburb of New Orleans

Page 46

kippers
cured herring

Mrs. Avril M. T. Incandenza
Hal's mother is named for the first time.

phylacteryish
Remove "-ish" and you have the English word for tefillin.

imprimatur
sanction or approval

Page 48

Positron-Emission Topography
According to Wikipedia, this is "a nuclear medicine medical imaging technique that produces a three-dimensional image or map of functional processes in the body." [Except that the third word should be Tomography. Is this a typo, or something significant?]

positrons
the sub-atomic particles that are the opposite of electrons

Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang (1890-1976) was a Viennese-born Austrian-American director. His science fiction film Metropolis (1927) presents a dystopian future where people are oppressed by technology.

Page 51 (cont'd)

spherocubular
Another neologism, presumably meaning having characteristics of both a sphere and cube -- a three-dimension "squircle".

Leith
A homonym of Lethe, the name of the river in Greek mythology whose water, if drunk, will erase one's memory. In keeping with the optics theme, Emmett Leith was an inventor in the field of holography. Walt Disney, of course, was a well known film producer and director.

Dr. James O. Incandenza
Hal's father's full name is given for the first time.

pargeting

A form of plasterwork shown to the right.

Pargeting

Page 52

dendriurethane
This substance does not actually exist. An educated guess is that it is a type of polyurethane that comes from trees, dendri being Greek for "tree."

twenty meters
almost twenty-two yards

unfenestrated
having no windows

two meter
a little over 6.5 ft

banshee
In Irish mythology, the banshee is female spirit, who acts as an omen of death. They are known for "keening," i.e., shrieking.

flange
a plate or ring to form a rim at the end of a pipe when fastened to the pipe

Page 53

post-latency
after the latency period that Freud posited in his four-stage theory of psychosexual development in children

Page 60

932/1864
I don't know what the numbers mean, but the first is half of the second.

R.I.S.C.
reduced instruction set computer, i.e., a computer that takes a limited set of commands

Pink2
Footnote 95 (to p. 284) reads "Pink being Microsoft Inc.'s first post-Windows DOS, quickly upgraded to Pink2 when InterLace took everything 100 % interactive and digital; by Y.D.A.U. it's kind of a dinosaur, but it's still the only DOS that'll run a MathpakVEndStat tree without having to stop and recompile every few seconds."

Primestar
a direct broadcast satellite network active in the 1990s

D.S.S.
digital satellite system

pixel-free
smooth and not pixelated

baud
a unit equal to bits per second; a baud rate is the number of bits per second a modem can send/receive

couture
French for "fashion"

nanoprocessors
very small processors -- smaller than microprocessors

chromotography
Here misspelled, chromatography is "any of various techniques for the separation of complex mixtures that rely on the differential affinities of substances for a gas or liquid mobile medium and for a stationary adsorbing medium through which they pass, such as paper, gelatin, or magnesia" (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language).

carpal neuralgia
nerve pain in the bones of the hand

phosphenic migraine
the phenomenon of seeing lights accompanying a migraine

gluteal hyperadiposity
excessive fat in the buttocks

lumbar stressae
back stress

November 3rd, YDAU - Troeltsch's illness

Page 60

Jim Troeltsch
The most famous person with this surname is Ernst Troeltsch (1865-1923), a German Protestant theologian and philosopher of religion and history.

Narberth PA
A wealthy, 1 square-mile borough west of Philadelphia and part of the larger "Main Line" suburban area running from Philadelphia to Malvern.

megaspansules
a combination of mega + span + capsule, these would be large, time-released capsules

Endnote 22

mucoid dessicators
drugs that dry up phlegm

Page 60 (cont'd)

Rader
If the name is pronounced with a "long a," as in the Oakland football team, a famous person with this last name was Erich Johann Albert Raeder (1876-1960), a World War II-era German grand admiral, sentenced to life at Nuremberg but served only nine years.

Page 61

nebulizer
something that turns a liquid into a spray

fugue-state
According to Wikipedia, a fugue state is "a state of mind characterized by abandonment of personal identity, along with the memories, personality and other identifying characteristics of individuality."

prolix
extended to a great, unneedy length

Nightmares

Page 61

rhinoviri
Wallace's plural for rhinovirus, one of dozens of variations of the virus that causes the common cold, also rhinoviruses

mucosa
An absorptive/secretive tissue layer in the body; here, in Troeltsch's throat or nose

Page 62

matte
as an adjective, having a dull or lusterless finish

bolections
mouldings that cover joints

snuff-white
Snuff is grayish to yellowish brown in color; snuff-white must be that color, but lighter.